Delmonico's & More

 Saturday I joined the NYC Urban Sketchers in lower Manhattan to sketch. My first subject was Delmonico's, a famous steak house in the financial district. I liked the rounded front and entrance. This was done directly in watercolor.

Next we headed up to a park called The Elevated Acre. It was where we gathered for lunch. It was on the roof of a parking garage and had really nice views across the river. It also had a lot of sun, so I sat far back in the park to get some shade. That gave me the view of the buildings but some of the foliage too.

Before show & tell I had a little time left to do a sketch of Anna while she was sketching.

Lobster

For those of you who have followed my blog for a long time, you may have noticed the lack of lobster sketches in the past few years. Between the pandemic and the prices on things, lobster dinners at home haven't happened in a while. Last week one of the local stores had a "sale" on lobsters, even though the price was quite a lot higher than we had paid the last time. But both of us lobster lovers here decided to get them for dinner anyway. Of course I had to sketch one of them before he/she went into the pot.

 

Ice Palace

Over in Oakdale there is a very colorful gourmet Italian ice stand, called the Ice Palace. How can you resist the pink awnings and the yellow-green umbrellas? The problem is finding a place to sit and sketch. Directly across the main street is a tire dealer and it isn't quite safe to sit along the busy street. I noticed that there was a pretty nice view from the side, but I had to sit in the 7-Eleven parking lot. I ended up sitting in my car parked in the last spot near the curb. It was too busy there too.

 

Sandspit Lighthouse

On Wednesday the Patchogue Sketch Club met at the Sandspit Marina for an evening of sketching by the lighthouse. It was a very windy night and several people tried using easels because they were painting for a plein air event, but the easels kept blowing over. I tried resting my palette on a wall since I had to really hold onto my sketchbook, but it also kept blowing off. Instead I pulled out a folding chair that I had in my car and put it against the wall. I put the palette on the seat of the chair. It worked!

Birdhouses and Dahlias

At the back of the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Oakdale there is a dahlia garden. Along the fence are all different kinds of birdhouses. What bird wouldn't want a house like one of these?

 

Waterdrinker Sunflower Field

On Tuesday my plein air group, PALS went to the sunflower field at Waterdrinker Farm in Manorville.

It was great to be surrounded by sunflowers! I painted it in a 8 x 10 size...

but I'm debating whether I should crop it to a size similar to one of these. I think the sky area and the field are too similar in size. Your thoughts?

 

Dockside

On Sunday I went back to the marina where I had sketched the other night. The bright red buoys caught my attention. I worked directly with watercolor for this painting.

 

Sunflower Quartet

 Yes, the sunflowers were finally tossed, and they didn't last 2 weeks like the vendor said. I did get quite a few sketches from them as they slowly drooped.

This was the first one which I already posted. It is a direct watercolor.

This one was also a direct watercolor.

Then I did one as a continuous line in ink.

This last one was done with Caran d' Arche Neocolor, Hoblein Oil Pastels, and Derwent Aquatone Watercolor Sticks. At this point some of the tips and leaves were turning brown. I would have kept them for another sketch, but they were really starting to smell.

Deer Run Farms

Deer Run Farms is a cute, small farm stand in Bellport...and overpriced. lol For a small place they have a lot of merchandise and it was definitely sketch-worthy.

 

Impulse & Exhibit

On  Wednesday evening the Patchogue Sketch Club met by the water in Bayport. We found a marina that we hadn't been to before. I found this old boat that looked like it needed some TLC. Meanwhile the sky was getting stormier by the minute. It poured just after we left.

Back in 2020 & 2021 during Covid I was participating in virtual sketching with the NYC Urban Sketchers. We had a theme each weekend and met and sketched over Zoom. Recently our group organized an exhibit "Sketching in the Time of Covid" at the New Amsterdam Library on Murray Street in NYC. Any sketches done during Covid virtually, from photos, or on location were welcome to be entered into the show. The exhibit featured 43 images judged and selected from 156 submitted images. The sketches were enlarged and printed. I am pleased to say that my sketch "Cafe du Monde" was accepted into the show. On Tuesday evening there was an opening reception. I wasn't able to attend the reception but there were enough people there to take photos of most of what was displayed. The exhibit will be open to the public through Oct 7th. I am hoping that I will be able to see it before it comes down. 

Here is my original sketch.

Here is how the sketch looked in the exhibit and the last photo is of my friend, Suzanne taking a photo of it. The original sketch was about 4 x 6, so you can see that is was enlarged quite a bit.

Garden and Trellis

 I went over to Meadow Croft in Sayville. I found a nice view looking into the garden toward the fountain (which has no water). There weren't too many flowers in bloom.

Chicken, Anyone?

 I was at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum the other day and couldn't pass up sketching the chickens in the back by the barn.

Noyac View

 This was sketched from a marina parking lot along Noyac Road in Southampton.

Sunflowers

At the Islip Farmers Market the other day I bought a bunch of sunflowers. The vendor told me they would last 2 weeks. Since they are already drooping and have lost a lot of petals I don't think they will make it.

 

Sketching at CEED

On Sunday the sketch group component of the South Bay Art Association got together at CEED in Brookhaven for a sketching session. There were only 5 of us who showed up but we had a good time sketching and talking. 

There were several raised beds planted with vegetables and flowers. There were a few eggplants growing, but there were very few tomatoes. I think those get picked as soon as they turn red.

 

There was a table by the building that was filled with a lot of cacti and succulents. I sketched a few of them. One of the workers told me that the plant on the right with the huge leaves is over 40 years old. I thought that was rather impressive.

Here are a few of our members working on their sketches.

Islip Farmers Market

On Saturday I headed into Islip looking for a location to sketch and came across the Islip Farmers Market. I liked that I was able to park and sit close enough to have a good view. The booths were close together so I could put several of them in one sketch. The farm on the left had good corn and tomatoes. Yay!!

 

Blue Boat on Shore

 This was painted down by the water in Oakdale. I liked the blue boat hidden in the foliage.

Island View Marina

 It is a rare thing when I find a local spot that I haven't sketched before. The Island View Marina is along one of the creeks leading out to the Great South Bay in Patchogue. It is fun to sketch places with a lot of "stuff."

Sailing In

 The colorful sails captured my attention, but the sailboats moved in too quickly...even when I was working directly in watercolor.

Cloud Study

We had some interesting clouds in the sky the other day, so I headed down to Land's End in Sayville knowing I would get a good open view down there. 

Sayville Blue

 Another Sayville house with enormous curb appeal.

Boats In A Row

I did this direct watercolor looking across toward Week's Boat Yard. I had to really simplify the maze of boats that I was viewing...many in the water and many on land.

 

School Street Charm

On Saturday my friend, Suzala and I met in Northport to paint. She was already there and told me she was painting a business on School Street. I wandered down the street a little more and found this house on the corner and the garage across the street. Luckily we were in the shade because the temperature was about 90 degrees. I lucked out because the building I was sitting near had a basement window that was releasing some air-conditioned air. A car was parked next to me but the rest of the block had no cars. All was well until a business van pulled up to a spot where it was blocking my entire view even though he could back up quite a bit. When the man got out I asked him if he would be long and he said no. Then he promptly got into the car next to me and pulled away leaving the van right where it was! I ended up moving further down the block so I could finish my painting.

 

Sketching Here And There

 Last week Jerry had an eye doctor appointment for his shots to his eyes. They put numbing drops in and then he has to wait for a bit. I used that time to sketch him in the chair. This was done on blue Strathmore paper. 

On Saturday afternoon I met my friend Suzala in Northport to paint. We decided not to venture into the city in the heat but to stay local instead. Later we headed down by the waterfront park and I sketched some people.

I also sketched in watercolor. This woman was sitting on a stone bench next to us.

There was a cute dog near her that I had to sketch. Both of these were done directly in watercolor.

Princess Tree

The other night when we were sketching in Sayville we came across this very unusual tree. It has clusters of some sort of berries/ and big leaves. It also had large leaves. My friend, Pat used her "Picture This" app which told her it was a Princess Tree. 

 I did a bit of research and found that it is an extremely fast growing tree. The clusters are actually fruit. Apparently in the spring there are beautiful flowers on the tree. I'll have to go back next year and check.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulownia_tomentosa

Bayfront Shack

 The other evening I was looking for an inspiring scene and saw this red shack and umbrella just poking above the reeds in Sayville. I had to stand to do this direct watercolor because if I sat down the view was obscured. I think it was worth it.

Kalers Pond

 My plein air group painted at Kalers Pond in Center Moriches on Tuesday. There was a lot of green.

Lefty Lucy Returns

 After a short hiatus Lefty Lucy returned this week. Her headpiece and facial decorations went with her fawn theme...although the lovely gown and pearls I just couldn't connect. lol

The Cheese Patch

 On Sunday I had to pick up a painting from the SBAA exhibit at The Cheese Patch in Patchogue. I figured I would get there early and do my sketch for the day. I ended up sketching The Cheese Patch itself.